AMERICAblog: Alito and sodomy and the right to privacy

John in DC points to a Boston Globe article on Alito's comments on a hot topic three decades ago, then adds this: "I'm not saying Alito is a big liberal, so please spare me the short-sighted comments about 'how you can say he's a liberal!' I'm not an idiot. But, being soft on sodomy, so to speak, is a big deal to the religious right - the very people this nomination is meant to mollify. You've got to remember that it was Lawrence v. Texas, the recent Supreme Court decision that ruled state sodomy laws unconstitutional, that got the religious right going on the whole 'gay marriage' crusade. The religious right, with Scalia as their leader, freaked out over Lawrence v. Texas. First, because they want to jail gays simply for being gay. But second, because, they argued, that Lawrence would lead to gay marriage.

In the religious right's mind, a defense of sodomy is a defense of gay marriage. That's why these Alito coming out against sodomy laws is such a big deal. And let's not even get into his support for legislation outlawing job discrimination against gays - the religious right will choke over that one. Not to mention, he was in favor of all of this 30 friggin' years ago, folks. I mean, Harriet was making pro-gay signs 15 years ago. This was 30 YEARS AGO.

Oh yeah, the fun has just begun."